Chinese Linguistics in Scandinavia

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Scandinavia’s greatest contribution to Chinese linguistics undoubtedly comes from the Swede Bernhard Karlgren (1889–1978; Chinese name Gāo Běnhàn 高本漢). On the basis of earlier Chinese scholarship and his own training in comparative linguistics and Swedish dialectology, he contributed strongly to the establishment of Chinese dialectology and historical phonology as modern western academic disciplines. He also established Sinology and Chinese linguistics at Swedish universities, first in Gothenburg (from 1918…